look forward to helping. >> good for you. good for you. barbra, it's been such a pleasure. i've waited to long for this moment. you've not disappointed. >> thank you so much. >> this is "release me" which is as stunning as your eyes look on there. and "the guilt trip," funny, warm, smart, poignant, bursting with talent. it is barbra streisand on film. what more can i say? good to barbrastreisand.com for all things barbra. come back, please. don't leave it so long. it took 47 years to get you in front of me. >> 47? >> i'm 47. >> you were a baby and you wanted to do an interview. >> yes. >> you don't have to exaggerate. >> the first thing that came out of my mouth. barbra, lovely to see you. the great barbra streisand. thanks, piers.truth. >> the moment i came out i sang >> the moment i came out i sang "the way we were." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

we begin tonight, "keeping them honest." it's a phrase we use a lot on this program, and one we're passionate enough. we have it's important to point out dishonesty. never more important than tonight. last week covering the shooting in newtown, anderson learned something that made us all sick to our stomach that people were trying to capitalize on the tragedy, fraudulently trying to capitalize on the victims' families. thanks to reporting by anderson, drew griffin and producer david fitzpatrick, tonight a woman has been arrested in connection with one of those alleged scams. drew will join me with the details in a moment. first here's how we got to this point. last week the uncle of 6-year-old noah pozner who was among the 20 children killed at sandy hook elementary told anderson there were fake websites, facebook pages and e maims going around asking for donations in noah's name. drew griffin and david fitzpatrick tracked one of those e-mails to a woman in the bronx

and went to her house. her name is noah alba. here is what happened next. >> hi. are you ms. alba? you set up donations on behalf of one of the victims of the newtown tragedy. no? here is your name and address on the e-mail. can i come in with a camera crew? no. >> she eventually agreed to let her voice be recorded and denied she had anything to do with the e-mail asking for donations. here's more of what she told producer david fitzpatrick. >> this says -- this has your e-mail on it right there. this is about noah pozner's funeral. >> i've never seen this. >> take a look. it's got your e-mail all over it. second page. your paypal account. a bank routing number you say you're set up. >> that's not my paypal account. i mean, i have a paypal account

like that. >> is that your e-mail? it says right there. >> yeah. that's one of my gmails. >> it is your gmail account? >> yeah. my personal account. but i never set up any funds for anybody. >> the pozner family tells us they're very upset by all this. >> i never did anything. >> who sent this e-mail? >> i never sent this e-mail out. >> uh-huh. >> i don't have a reason to send any e-mail out. >> this is all so bizarre. alba claimed she was being set up by enemies in of all things, the crafting community. alba has a business selling victorian picture frames. it's really hard to believe. anderson and drew spoke about that last week and that she also allegedly asked for donations after hurricane sandy. >> i think it's important to name this person again as noel alba is her name? >> that's her name and her story is it that her enemies, quote, within the crafting community

sent out this e-mail. >> that's the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard. "a," that she has enemies in the crafting community. and that they have somehow set up a paypal account and websites about hurricane sandy and about this beautiful little boy. i mean, that is ridiculous. >> anderson spoke with noah pozner's uncle after we tracked alba down. here's what he said. >> instead of doing things with our family, i'm running around trying to protect the family. i look at my nieces and i think of these scammers, and they are stealing from them. they are survivors of this tragedy. >> it's just -- i mean, it's infur rating. >> it's infuriating. i'm going to do everything i can to protect them and to get the word out and today as to this ms. alba, i did contact the fbi. and they're looking into it. they were very interested in the information we provided. >> that's great. hopefully they can look into her finances. we didn't have the capabilities

of looking into her actual bank records, but that should be relatively easy to track down. >> that report got a whole lot of attention. it turns out it got some very specific attention from both the fbi and the u.s. district attorney in connecticut. today, noelle alba was arrested, charged with lying to federal agents who were investigating her for fraudulent fund-raising activity. here you see her leaving court in hartford, connecticut. she appeared before a u.s. magistrate. she was released on $50,000 bond. if she's convicted, alba could face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. the fbi's criminal complaint refers to the reporting we did last week, saying quote, on or about december 19th, 2012, cnn's anderson cooper 360 program broadcast a story regarding charity scams and the sandy hook tragedy. alba was a subject of the program and allowed the cnn crew to record her audio voice in response to questions about her involvement with charities to help sandy hook victims.

alba claimed that the paypal account listed in the request for donations was not hers, only that she had an account like that. alba claimed she never set up any funds for anybody. the journalist reported that alba claimed she immediately refunded all of the donations she received. she claimed other members in the scrapbooking community within which she interacted on facebook had tried to set her up. the criminal complaint also shows the sickening depths of alba's alleged deception. and drew griffin joins me now. >> the story didn't add up to us when we first spoke to alba. now the fbi is alleging pretty awful things, and they say she acted real quickly in an effort to deceive people into donating money. the fbi complaints showing within four hours of the shooting, really as we were all realizing the magnitude of that

tragedy, noelle alba on her website called victorian glamour fairies, or vgf, in the complaint, identified herself as an aunt of one of the children who attended school there. vgf also claimed at that time to have provided pictures to law enforcement officers to help identify victims. vgf did not identify the name of her nephew. randy, that was at 1:30 in the afternoon. of course, we didn't know the names at that moment. >> all of that, it seems, was a lie at this point. >> according to the fbi, every word of it was a lie. it didn't stop. that's what's amazing. the fbi claims alba was basically building in sympathy on this website. the very next day started asking for money. this is from december 15th. some of these spellings are texts, and they're wrong. we're trying to take them straight from the complaint here. we have set up a funeral fund for my brother and families. anyone willing to make a donation can make one. then she goes on to give a paypal account number and a direct deposit account through a chase bank. she then writes, we ask you

continue to not just pray for us but for the families who lost their kids. >> i read the complaint this afternoon and was stunned. i mean, this woman sitting in her home in the bronx was allegedly telling donors she was actually visiting the crime scene, identifying the bodies of the victims, right? and then even meeting with the president? >> if it's true, it's so outrageous. it's almost like there's a mental issue, not just fraud. the fbi says she told one donor by phone she had to go to sandy hook elementary school and enter the crime scene to identify her nephew for law enforcement. this is what she texted about the president. this is the exact text. he met with us, hugged us, and even cried with us. he's really down to earth. and most sickening to me is then she allegedly texted this detail about the victim that she claims is her nephew. again, a text message, i'm a mess, not looking forward to seeing that casket because that is what will kill us all today. 11 gunshots in his little body or take those bullets.

the guilt we have just keeps building up. this was all just made up. she had no ties at all to any family of this tragedy. she was apparently just trying to get people to donate to her personal accounts. >> so did she? did she get any money? >> at the time, she did tell us she got about $300 which she says she refunded. that apparently is true. the fbi is not specific about the money, but does say the palpal deposits were refunded. she is charged with lying and the same lies that she apparently told us. she told the fbi this wasn't her. someone was setting her up. according to the fbi, they will be able to prove it was her, that she was claiming to be the aunt and was in the process of receiving donations on behalf of this family. >> drew, this is so shocking, but really the most shocking thing out of all of this is that it's fairly routine, right? you have seen this happen before after other tragedies and other disasters. >> yes, fake charities popping up, recently surrounding hurricane sandy victims. there could be more related to newtown. the u.s. attorney's office in

connecticut and the fbi are being very aggressive trying to track more of these, and nothing specific, they are telling us, but clearly this arrest today which could end with a five-year prison sentence is being announced as a warning to anyone who would try to take advantage of this tragedy and these suffering families. >> a warning that we certainly hope is heard. drew, thank you very much. ken berger is the president and ceo of charity navigator, a nonprofit organization that evalyates charities. he joins me now live. good to see you. the details, you were listening there, so disturbing. have you ever seen anything like this? >> unfortunately, we have seen situations like this. and i think any time there's a tragedy, unfortunately some really awful people come out and exploit the public. it's really horrible. i mean, this is one of the worst i've seen. it's pretty horrific to say the least, but there are some real low things that people are doing out there when it comes to many

of these kind of tragedies. >> what kind of person, i mean, i saw you as you were watching that roort. you were shaking your head. what kind of person does something like this? this is not your average scam. they're taking advantage here -- allegedly taking advantage here of a horrific situation. in your boric, can you paint the picture or take us into the mindset of somebody like this? >> unfortunately, it seems there's no simple profile. it's people from all different economic backgrounds and all different kinds of people we have seen engaged in some very unethical behavior. i think it's a matter of character and integrity of an individual. and also i think there are occasions when clearly there are mental health issues involved. but there's no clear profile. it's just across the board. >> it's so sad. authorities have told us they're investigating other cases. are you at all concerned this case in newtown could be the tip of the iceberg? >> absolutely. that is often the case. in the case of hurricane sandy, 1,000 websites were created within a week. so that gives you a sense of the

scale of how these things can be. our concern is that the amount of oversight capacity of the government is quite limited and is shrinking while this kind of abuse seems to be steam rolling and there's more and more of it we see. especially this year when we've had a number of tragedies. >> are authorities outnumbered or can they do anything to stop this? >> they're definitely outnumbered. the irs and state attorney general offices have long been far behind in keeping up with these kind of things. and now as the government is shrinking, there's even more of a problem. unfortunately, it requires the work of cnn and other investigative reporters to bring this to light. it's almost embarrassment that sometimes drives the government to get involved. so there really is a lack of oversight there. there's a need for far more enforcement. >> i'm sure you're concerned people at home are listening and saying maybe i shouldn't donate. this might make them afraid to donate. what do you say to those people? >> for every horrible story,

there are inspirational stories and fantastic charities. this n this case the united way of westchester -- western connecticut, excuse me, is involved and having the community select where the funds are going to go. you have save the children. donors choose is a great organization. there's a whole lot of organizations out there that have a track record, a reputation. they do wonderful work. don't despair. please just do a little research and don't just give on impulse. >> ken berger, appreciate your time tonight. thank you. >> and just a note from a local official in newtown. she said the town has received so many gifts since the tragedy that the post office and local workers can't even handle the volume anymore. she's actually asking people to stop sending things and instead donate them to needy families in their own communities. as far as donations, there are several legitimate funds for the victims, including one for noah pozner. you can find a list of places to donate at impact your world.

cnn.com/impact. breaking news when we come back. looks like president obama and congressional leaders will try again tomorrow to steer us back from the fiscal cliff. more on what, if any, deal could be shaping up. and keeping them honest, why avoiding economic disaster seems to be so hard to do for some of the folks in washington.

some breaking news. late word that president obama will meet tomorrow with congressional leaders for one more shot at keeping the country from going over the fiscal

cliff. before we get the latest on that, though, let's clear one thing up. everyone talks about the cliff as if it's simply materialized from out of the blue. keeping them honest, that is just not so. the package of drastic budget cuts and tax increases that go into effect tuesday morning are totally manmade and totally avoidable and all sides know it. it's a kind of legislative dooms day machine written by the men and women who work here and signed by president obama. the idea being to make it so painful not to cut a deal on taxes and spending that they would be forced to cut a deal on taxes and spending. except keeping them honest, they haven't done it. even though they knew the stakes, they knew the deadline, and both sides promised that this time things would be different. >> we need to return to fiscal responsibility. >> how is it that we're going to be able to do that? getting our fiscal house in order. >> the american people have spoken loudly. they want us to get our fiscal house in order.

>> fiscal handcuffs on this congress that are sorely needed. >> washington is beginning to get its fiscal house in order. >> so they approve legislation that gave everyone nearly a year and a half to reach a long-term agreement on spending and taxes or face truly punishing consequences if they didn't. you'll remember at the time this was a really big deal. republicans had forced the issue by refusing to raise the debt ceiling without budget cuts. markets went haywire. congresswoman gabby giffords even returned to washington from rehab from her almost fatal gunshot wound just to vote for the bill. and while the experience left everyone bitter, democrats and republicans also promised to work extra hard, as they said, to get our fiscal house in order. if only because the law they just passed made it crazy not to. well, call them crazy. no progress before the election campaign began. no progress during the campaign. then more recently, house speaker john boehner and president obama each made important concessions. the president on entitlement spending.

speaker boehner on upper income tax rates. speaker boehner, though, could not get conservative republicans to go along and seemed at a loss for what to do next. >> we can't cut our way to prosperity. we need real economic growth. many of us believe on both sides of the aisle on the fundamental reform of our tax code will help us get our economy moving faster and put more americans back to work. and more americans on the tax rolls. how we get there, god only knows. >> president obama, meantime, seemed to lose patience. no sign he's eager to go off the cliff, but he's also not ready, either, to concede more to get, in his words, what he'll get for free when the bush tax cuts expire tuesday morning. democratic lawmakers, though, are more willing to let that and everything else happen and both sides are still pointing fingers. take a look at senate minority leader mitch mcconnell and majority leader harry reid just this afternoon. >> you'll excuse me if i'm a

little frustrated at the situation. >> republican leader finds himself frustrated. >> i say i'm a little frustrated because we've been asking the president and the democrats to work with us. >> he complains i have not delivered the votes to pass the solution to the fiscal cliff. but he's in error. >> i told the president i would be happy to look at whatever he proposes. >> he's upset because, quote, the phone never rang. >> as i said, this is a conversation we should have had months ago. >> we have nobody to work with, to compromise. >> republicans aren't about to write a blank check. >> we can't negotiate with ourselves. that's all we're doing. >> we don't have very many days left. >> we're in the same situation we have been in for a long time. >> as you can see, the senate is back in session today. the house plans to be back on sunday. more now on the breaking news. senior congressional correspondent dana bash joins us now from capitol hill. chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is on the north lawn tonight. dana, i'll start with you. you listened to big talk on the intro.

today was a lot of finger pointing and even more political chicken. but now both sides will be talking to each other tomorrow instead of just at each other. what is the latest on that? >> reporter: that's right. they're going to all be going to the white house. when i say all, i mean the top four congressional leaders, democrats and republicans, to sit down with the president. i'm told by a senior democratic source here in the senate that the expectation is if they can't figure out a path forward over the next three days in this meeting tomorrow, a way to actually pass something to avert the fiscal cliff, then it is very likely, almost definite, that we will go over the cliff. i have to tell you that sources in both parties think that's the likelihood at this point anyway, but this meeting tomorrow is absolutely going to be crucial. and what the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell who you just heard from there, what he's saying he hopes to get from the president is a more detailed explanation of what he has been saying publicly, which is that he thinks he just wants the senate to pass the stop gap

measure to keep tax cuts where they are for 98% of americans, which he campaigned on over and over again in the last election, in the hopes that enough republicans will come onboard and then this could possibly get through the house. >> jessica, is there cause then for optimism here or is this meeting really just for show? >> reporter: randi, as dana pointed out, at this meeting they could work out the details of this scaled down proposal. which could be a final agreement. for example, republicans have been calling for these details, and the kind of thing they would like to know is if, just one example, if unemployment insurance is going to be extended, how would that be paid for? these are the sort of things that could be worked out tomorrow. senate republicans, the leader, mitch mcconnell, has made it clear today as dana reported, that he goes into this meeting looking to hear what the president is proposing, but speaker boehner, his office

issued a statement sounding far less willing to compromise before this meeting than he did before his other meetings with the president. so optimism, that's not how i would characterize the mood around this town. there's some hope, not a lot of rosiness, though. >> dana, even if the house does get the chance to vote on some sort of deal, i mean, there's no guarantee speaker boehner can deliver his conference, right? he couldn't even get republicans to vote for his own bill. how does he convince them to vote for any deal that the president approves? >> reporter: that's right. the feeling among house republicans, particularly those close sto speaker boehner, is if something could get through the senate, capital "i," capital "f," if, it would be something that would probably get a number of republican votes in the senate and do the same in the house. he, the speaker, told members of his republican conference in a conference call today, we're told, that he's not interested in passing something without -- with a majority of democrats,

without the majority of his own caucus. but the reality is that he believes that if they get to that point, he will get the majority of his caucus, even if it means passing the president's plan because there are enough democrats that will go along with perhaps the majority of republicans who don't want to see taxes go up on all americans. having said that, the flip side of that argument is what we talked about last night. there are a number of house republicanwho would much rather vote after january 1st to cut people's taxes than to vote now to raise other people's taxes. >> yeah. jessica, both sides here have been saying the other wants to drive the nation over the fiscal cliff, that their opponents have something to gain by letting that deadline pass without a deal. does either side have a point? do either have anything to gain or at least think they stand to gain if there's no deal in time? >> reporter: right now, both sides, randi, are trying to win a pr war. as we've been saying it's

increasingly likely we go over the cliff. now there's just a lot of posturing. for republicans it's a lot of arguing to the base because what they're trying to do is they can't be seen as raising -- voting to raise taxes on people. for democrats, it's positioning for the larger public because they have to be seen as in their view upholding the president's promise made during the campaign to increase taxes on the wealthiest and hold them down for middle-class americans. right now the polling is with the president and with democrats. but if we go over the cliff, it is not hard to project that in a few weeks' time, all of that is going to shift, and the american public will blame everyone in washington, and everyone will be hurt. so the two sides have to make a deal in short order, whether it's before january 1st or two weeks after. they got to get something done. >> they certainly do. dana, jessica, thank you very much. and with us now, "new york

times" finest, ross and charles. ross, i'm going to start with you. you think both sides have decided it's in their political interest to go over the fiscal cliff. is that right? >> yeah, you never want to rule a deal off the table because we have lived through so many rounds of brinksmanship that have ended in deals over the years. in this case, i think democrats think they get a better deal on policy by going over the cliff. that they end up getting more in taxes with less in spending cuts than they would get if they had to cut a deal right now. and republicans have persuaded themselves not completely convincingly in my view, but they have persuaded themselves it's much better to accept slightly higher taxes that they themselves don't have to vote for directly, even though they'll still be casting a vote for new tax rates, they'll be able to say, well, taxes have already gone up and we're just voting to cut them. so that's sort of how, at least, i think both sides are persuading themselves to sort of tip-toe off the cliff. >> and charles, i know you think

republicans have more to lose here, but does either side get a boost from this? >> i don't think you get a boost, but i think the republicans really take a knock. i think even ross believes they take a knock for this. because what he's saying, and i think he's absolutely right, is they've kind of convinced themselves, played some sort of mental game on themselves that in principle as long as they don't vote to raise anyone's taxes, they'll take a worse deal than the president was offering them in the first place because they can have the principle of saying that they came back after they let the tax breaks expire and then just voted to lower them on fewer people. it's an incredible kind of situation they find themselves in. they have kind of convinced themselves that is actually a better situation than having fewer people be subjected to higher taxes, which you would think would be their position. it's extraordinary. i think that the american public can see straight through that kind of nonsense. that's why you see in the polls,

consistently, people say that they think that the president is doing a better job negotiating on this fiscal cliff, and that they will blame republicans more if we go over it. >> we have certainly been hearing that. ross, you have been saying no matter who comes out on the top in this deal, this sort of showdown actually makes it less likely republicans will win tax debates any time soon. >> yeah, in the sense that, you know, the party has -- i think charles is right, that the party has sort of locked itself into a corner where, yes, there is this possibility that they'll be able to vote for tax cuts and they'll be able to say, well, we held the line. we did our best and so on. but the danger for them is that these stopped being the bush tax cuts and become the obama tax cuts, right? i think that's what conservatives and republicans should be most worried about from a long-term political perspective right now. i mean, in a sense, they have sort of -- they have won a particular policy battle in the sense that most of the bush tax

cuts, both parties believe should be extended. right? we're talking about 97%, 98% of the bush tax cuts. you could say that's a policy win for republicans, but if those tax cuts ended up getting branded as obama's tax cuts that he passed after we went over the fiscal cliff, it then loses whatever upside there is for republicans, except, and we have to mention this, for republicans vulnerable to primary challenges, there's obviously a lot of anxiety about being, you know, the first republican in 20 years to vote for a tax increase. i think that's the big fear, that it's been so long. republicans haven't cast this kind of vote. you don't want to be the first one to do it. >> yeah, and charles, we're told the democrats may be waiting until the very last minute. maybe they're banking on pressure and the gop caving. what should americans make of that with so much at stake here? >> i don't there is gamesmanship on both sides. that's obviously true. but i think that democrats

understand they get a better deal out of this if they actually go over the cliff. what the president was offering, his last round of offers, was in fact something that a lot of democrats and liberals did not take kindly to. in fact, when boehner was not able to pass plan "b," he basically threw the president a lifeline. nobody has to be mad add you because i can't even get people to vote for these incredibly high limits. in a way, the president comes out of this in a better and stronger position. the bush tax cuts will expire if you do not have a deal. the republicans are not willing to move, as far we can tell at this point. that means when you come back, you will get exactly what the president has said he wanted all along. which is you will then have to vote to extend the tax cuts for people making $250,000 or less. he's in the cat bird seat. >> and basically what's happened here is that the democrats have learned to love intransigence.

right? last time we went through this with the debt ceiling, we had this endless democratic -- whining might be an unkind way to put it. lfs a lot of, oh, the republicans are playing too much hardball. they're putting the country's future at risk and so on. this time the democrats have said, we will play hardball, too, and as charles said, they have a better hand to play this time. >> charles blow, ross douthat, thank you both very much. up next, who still has to worry about the massive winter storm? chad myers has the latest forecast. and we'll tell you about the tornado on aisle three. amazing video when "360" continues.

before getting the latest on the winter storm from chad myers, i want to play you a truly amazing piece of video. it shows a tornado from that storm as it blew past a walgreens in mobile, alabama. this is on christmas day. just look at that. there's no sound so you can't actually hear the cars being spun around in that parking lot or the screams of people racing for cover as you see there, or the racket of items literally flying off the shelves from gale force winds inside the store. amazingly, no one was seriously hurt. meantime, from little rock, arkansas, to littleton, new hampshire, and up into maine, they're digging out from a heavy blanket of snow or getting ready for even more. here with the latest on all of it, meteorologist chad myers. chad, the dangerous weather that moved across the country this week isn't over yet. who's getting hit the hardest

right now? >> well, down east maine into new brunswick into canada. but the biggest concern i have right now for the mass amount of people is boston. 36 all day, raining. now it's down to 32. and beginning to snow. so by morning, what was wet will be white or will be an ice puddle. so you have to be careful here, now that we're going to go down below freezing in boston for the first time, all the way out to the cape as well. that's where the massive amount of people, the most people will be affected by tomorrow's weather when you wake up. everything that was just wet is not going to be wet anymore. we will see an awful lot of snow here in parts of maine, all the way over toward halifax. another foot of snow. that is where it is now. the storm has moved away from the northeast. still going to make cold wind for new york city, cold for albany, into boston, even into new hampshire. temperatures are going to be cold tonight, down into the teens for the most part. vermont, you did very well. i know that depends on your point of view, but for killington, for sugar bush, for the ski resorts there, almost two feet of new snow in a place

that has been very hard hit by a lack of snow the past couple years. but woodford, vermont, so far, the winter at 21 inches of snow. tomorrow, we get another storm that moves up to the northeast, believe it or not, right up to new york. it's going to be a storm that runs right along the spine of 32 degree weather. so could even see some ice and sleet from memphis back up to new york city by saturday. it's a storm that's going to start in the south, just like the last one did. i don't expect severe weather, just rain here with this one, but then as it runs up the northeast coast, almost a nor'easter but not quite, we will see snow even into new york city. by saturday night, it could be three inches, and at least it's good that it's saturday and not on a friday or monday when you're trying to get somewhere. saturday, stay home and watch the pretty pictures. >> watch cnn. chad, thank you very much. we're also following some troubling developments in hilldale, utah, where warren jeffs is still considered a

prophet. the town's only major grocery store has shut down and his followers are being told the world will end by monday. gary tuchman investigates just ahead.

tonight, new concerns warren jeffs may be planning something dire from his prison cell. we have been following the saga of jeffs for years now. from his fugitive days to his conviction. jeffs remains a revered figure among his followers in the flds church even though he's serving a life sentence for actually assaulting two underage girls. now the closing of a grocery store in a town on the utah/arizona border has authorities on high alert. jeffs' followers are being told the world will end no later than this coming monday, december 31st. with the store now closed, what other preparations might they be making? at and what potential cost to themselves? gary tuchman went to hilldale, utah, looking for some answers. >> reporter: it is warren jeffs'

birthday. the imprisoned prophet of the flds church. in the neighboring twin cities of colorado city, arizona, and hilldale, utah, his followers have a message for him. >> we send our love. >> reporter: by all accounts the man they love is still making major decisions and pronouncements from behind bars. and church members almost never want to talk about that. why are you running away from us? our visit comes at a bizarre, tenuous, and potentially disturbing time. sam is a investigator who has represented more than 100 former members of the flds church. >> the consensus seems to be that warren is indicating by the end of the year the end of the world will be here. >> reporter: when leaders of religious sects talk about calamitous endings to the earth, people in law enforcement take careful notice. >> jim jones, koresh, history has showed us that these things happen when religious zealots take charge of a group of people. >> reporter: a point of concern? the church-owned grocery store,

the only big store in the community, has abruptly shut down. not only was this the sole grocery store in the flds community, but it was a central gathering point. authorities fear its closing might signify something potentially dire. is it your belief that warren jeffs feels the store no longer needs to be open because the end of times are near and his people don't need to buy groceries anymore? >> yes. >> reporter: it's believed many residents here have been storing up extra food in anticipation of the end times. others, though, are driving out of town to shop. what do warren jeffs' faithful followers have to say about this? they are told to never talk to reporters. some use a reporter intimidation technique. large vehicles speeding and screeches by us. then emitting black smoke for added emphasis. one of the things we're hearing is that he's been talking about the possible end of times, end of the world and that people need to be faithful. is that your understanding of what he's been talking about also? >> i would rather not talk.

>> reporter: a lot of ladies in this community don't want to talk to me. are you one of them? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: the ladies are almost always polite. not always the case with men. can i just ask you, do you still believe in your prophet? do you not want to talk to me? but you do hear me? okay. you can tell me no comment. we can walk away instead of just being silent to me. were you told not to say any words? [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: what language are you speaking, sir? can i just ask you, do you believe the end of times is near at this point. >> that depends. if you fly an airplane, then it's the end of your time. we're told that your prophet, warren jeffs, has said that the end of time will be coming by the end of the year. do you believe that to be true? how come you're scratching my microphone?

you don't want to talk to me, do you? >> no. >> reporter: police and prosecutors say warren jeffs' end of time declaration is the mark of a desperate man. a man who is marking his time by serving a sentence of life plus 20 years. gary tuchman, cnn, hilldale, utah. still ahead, new information about president bush senior's health and why his chief of staff says to, quote, please put the harps back in the closet. also this -- >> what is this thing with you and ryan seacrest? >> what is the thing with you and ryan seacrest? you're so in love with him. he's your buddy. >> uh-oh. what will happen this year in times square? anderson cooper and kathy griffin have a preview straight ahead on "360."

i'm isha sesay here with the "360 bulletin." retired general norman schwarzkopf has died in florida. he was 78. stormen norman chanded the u.s.-led coalition during the first gulf war. a statement from former president george h.w. bush called schwarzkopf a true american patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation. former president bush remains in intensive care tonight. he's being treated for a fever but his family remains hopeful he'll be released soon. his chief of staff sent a note to supporters today reassuring them that his condition is not dire and telling them to, quote, please put the harps back in the closet. secretary of state hillary clinton is heading back to work next week. she was recovering from a bug you'll recall when she fainted, fell and suffered a concussion. that was three weeks ago. now she's good to go. doctors still want her to wait a little longer before traveling

overseas. now, one of the ideas that seems totally obvious and completely inevitable until you realize that somebody had to think of it first. it's something that takes the newest technology, the smartphone, and couples it to one of the oldest, the chariot. the result makes it easier for some to get around town, and others to make a living. tom foreman has the story of uber, a german word, in tonight's "american journey." >> reporter: for 13 years in the crush and crawl of d.c. traffic, robert harrison has made a sometimes difficult living as a limo driver, but a surge of new riders now has him for the first time heading into the holidays with real optimism about his job. >> they have saved the day for us as independent limo drivers. >> reporter: that's the impact? >> that's the impact, absolutely. >> reporter: he says he owes it to uber. a relatively new service that allows limo drivers to connect electronically with people nearby who need a car right now. so your smartphone knows where you are. all you do is put in a request

for a car and in a matter of moments -- >> i have a hit. >> reporter: that allows drivers who often have hours to kill between pre-arranged rides to turn the waiting time into money making time. uber typically gets 20% of the fare. the driver gets the rest. travis came up with the idea five years ago and has spread it to a dozen cities here and abroad. >> if you can fill that time utility for those guy, help them get business during their dead time, they can do a far better job sort of making ends meet, making a living rage. >> reporter: uber's rapid rise is not without controversy. in a number of city, taxi operators and local officials have questioned whether uber and other similar ventures are dodging laws that control taxi rates and protect consumers. to be sure, an uber car is more expensive than a taxi but the service is proving so popular with customers who like the comfort and convenience, some cities are already pushing aside

the reservations and harrison says that's great news. >> no uber driver out here will tell you that they're not making any money. if they are, they're trying to discourage other drivers from not coming on, right. >> reporter: tom foreman, cnn, washington. >> interesting. we will be right back with anderson and the ridiculist.

on monday night, anderson and kathy griffin will team up again in times square. we can feel the excitement already. we know you can. it will be their sixth year together co-hosting our new year's eve coverage. and the magic is still there. kathy loves nothing more than surprises. she set the bar pretty high last year. this year, anderson is trying to set some ground rules. good luck with that, pal. here's a preview.

>> i just want to remind some people what you did last year. take a look. >> oh, my lord. what, are you kidding me? >> we just saw lady gaga. >> are you kidding me? >> we just saw lady gaga. >> are you kidding me? i swear, i'm literally talking to you guys and i turn around -- >> why can't we do it while i'm in my underwear? >> where's the sign? >> it's not nude. >> look at the sign. good lord. >> what i like about that clip it that it took you really quite a while to even turn around and notice that i was almost naked. >> that sort of thing is not my demo. >> i understand. you're totally blacking out. >> the other thing that people probably don't know is that every year i have to fight to get you to be quiet during the sweetest, most special time of the entire night where the ball actually drops and they play "new york new york" and they play "imagine" and all of those

nice songs. now all the crowd is singing. i find it a very emotional moment. i have to fight you not to talk. >> yeah, we're not doing that this year. >> those are the nicest moments. >> that's the moment where we have got to just punch ryan seacrest in the face, hard. >> what is the thing with you and ryan seacrest? >> what is this thing with you and ryan seacrest. you're so in love with him. he's your buddy. i can't believe when we went to dinner last year and you actually wanted to talk to him. he was trying to suck the life out of us and get our secrets. >> we don't have any secrets. >> has he called you yet for the dinner? >> no. i haven't talked to him since last year. >> when is he going to call us for the dinner? he usually picks up the tab. >> he does pick up the tab. >> i'm not paying this year. >> there will be plenty more of that on monday. cnn's new year's eve live with anderson cooper and kathy griffin starts at 10:00 p.m. eastern from times square. and as 2012 draws to a close, we are counting down the top ten ridiculists of the year based on your votes. tonight, your choice for number seven.

it involves the arrest of a man whose name is quite a mouthful, to say the least. here is anderson's take on it from back in january. >> time now for the ridiculist. tonight, we're adding a gentleman who for the sake of genes i'm going to initially refer to at mr. bop-bop. he is the man who got arrested in a park in madison, wisconsin, after police found marijuana, drug paraphenalia and a knife on him. according to court records, his name used to be jeffrey drew wilschke. kind of a tongue twister. i am guessing he got tired of people mispronouncing it because back in october he legally changed his name to beezou. doo-doo zoppity zop bop bop. some call him zoppity bop bop bop. some bop-bop. some beezoy. clearly that's his first anymore. doo-doo his middle name.

zopitty bop bop bop his last name. if he marries someone in the last name of skidly bop doop-whop and she high fe nates, her new name would be -- easy rb right? what i want to know is what would compel somebody to change his name to something like that? my first thought, maybe he's a cab callaway fan and wanted to pay homage to the scat song. ♪ >> or possibly, he's a david lee roth fan. his name does sound like the break in that song "just a gigolo i ain't got nobody." ♪ ♪ i ain't got nobody >> it's possible, possible. or maybe mr. bop bop is just a really big hanson fan. ♪ mm-mmm bop mm-mmm bop mm-mmm bop ♪